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US 4,053,162 AGranted
Dynamic air bearing seal - radially and axially stabilized
AssigneeCaterpillar Tractor Co.
InventorRoger O. Bjerk
Life of this patent
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AssigneeCaterpillar Tractor Co.
InventorRoger O. Bjerk
Estimating the term…
An air bearing is coaxially mounted around a rotatable shaft, such as an engine crankshaft, by means of a bellows-like tube or resilient material. Air flows through the tube into an air chamber partly formed by a bearing sleeve to the bearing face. The bearing sleeve is concentrically received within and spaced from a double flange thrust sleeve which is mounted on a shaft by a plurality of "O"-ring seals. A plurality of air jets in both axial and the radial direction allow co-action of both thrust sleeves by means of the air flow therebetween. Stabilizing of the seal is provided by the air jets. Small, flexible lip seals on opposite faces of the bearing sleeve are lifted away from contact with the double flange sleeve when the shaft is rotating, thereby minimizing lip seal wear. The bearing seal provides streams of air which flow past the seal to prevent oil or contaminants from moving in a direction opposite to the air flow direction.
A pressurized sealing arrangement comprising a rotatable shaft, a generally ring-shaped thrust sleeve mounted on said shaft, an outer, ring-shaped sleeve mounting a flexible mounting member, a ring-shaped inner sleeve intermediate and spaced from said thrust sleeve and said outer sleeve, said inner sleeve being supported by said mounting member and defining an air chamber therein, passage means in said mounting member intercommunicating said outer sleeve with said chamber, and a plurality of jets in said inner sleeve positioned so as to direct pressurized fluid into said thrust sleeve from said chamber and thereby cause said inner sleeve to be centered with respect to said thrust sleeve.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.